Ok, am more or less done here. If not the Focal, can anyone help me with the other mentioned speakers. This could be my biggest investment in hifi at this point in my life. So I guess, feeling a little apprehensive before making a purchase is normal.

I heard some Focal speakers (not the ones you mentioned) and what I heard, I really liked. However, I think you should go out and about to various dealers to try loads of speakers. In your budget range there are loads of speakers, and recommending a pair usually boils down to personal preference.

Thank you Jan. You are absolutely right. Till recently I was happy and was the proud owner of CD6002+PM7001 with Diamond 9.5- thanks to Mr.E. Then I happen to hear the 15S1 combo. I was literally blown away. Upgrade bug popped out, made some arrangements with the dealer for the existing setup and here I'm.

So far I have heard, ProAc Studio 140 and B&W CM7- must say, I loved the ProAc. Not that CM7 was any less impressive, but something about the ProAc - can't explain what or why, I just liked it.

I'm trying to get the Ikon6 auditioned with the setup, not possible due to different dealers. Hope they agree. I don't know, if its the dealers greed or my high hopes, but they seem to have half convinced me that anything less than the Focals is a compromise and I might not be doing justice with the Marantz hardware.

I can offer some personal experience. I use similar Marantz sa-11s1 and pm-11s1 for some time now. I chose them for laid back, warm and still detailed sound and paired them with Monitor Audio GS60 speakers. They match well in my opinion. You could try a pair of Monitor Audio speakers and see if you like the combination.

Thank you Zelkop for your suggestion. I'll definitely try that out. I had recently partnered em' with GS20 and RS6 once. But found them very pronounced in base dept., RS6 especially.

Like you mentioned, the reason I'm getting the 15S1s are for the same laid back, warm detailed sound. May be its due to the kind of music I prefer, the likes of, Hole Cole, Claire Martin, Diana Krall, Patricia Barber, Fourplay, Sarah McLachlan, Jack Johnson, Enya, Kitaro etc.

Of course, I couldn't scale up to the 11S1s - had to be satisfied with the 15S1s, but no regrets. I totally love the kit.Best regards.

I think that GS20 could be a very good match. I tried several amps with GS60 and found the non-agressive Marantz to be a good match with metal MA drivers. I was able to hear similar relatively warmish sound from MA GS60 by using Balanced Audio Technology integrated amp VK-300x, but that one could be relatively rare animal in the UK. I also have a pair of Exposure 3010 amps at home, they sound nice and liquid with MA GS, but somehow lack the fine detail of Marantz Premium. I currently live in the Middle East and choices are limited here. Strangely, although 45 years old :), I like the pronounced base department and even wanted to emphasize it. I was able to tune the base by repositioning.

Thank you Jan. You are absolutely right. Till recently I was happy and was the proud owner of CD6002+PM7001 with Diamond 9.5- thanks to Mr.E. Then I happen to hear the 15S1 combo. I was literally blown away. Upgrade bug popped out, made some arrangements with the dealer for the existing setup and here I'm.

So far I have heard, ProAc Studio 140 and B&W CM7- must say, I loved the ProAc. Not that CM7 was any less impressive, but something about the ProAc - can't explain what or why, I just liked it.

I'm trying to get the Ikon6 auditioned with the setup, not possible due to different dealers. Hope they agree. I don't know, if its the dealers greed or my high hopes, but they seem to have half convinced me that anything less than the Focals is a compromise and I might not be doing justice with the Marantz hardware.

That's my current setup (PM7001/CD6002). I use Focal speakers as well, for their laid back, smooth sound.

If you ask anyone knowledgeable in High-End audio they will tell you that Focal make some of the best loudspeakers you can buy. (Not being biased.) The ones you mentioned are a bit pricey for that setup though. -

Link: http://www.divineaudio.co.uk/itemdetails.php?itemId=308

I would definitely think about auditioning some Focal's though, maybe from the Chorus 800 range? - http://www.divineaudio.co.uk/itemdetails.php?itemId=306

Thank you guys, Zelkop and Marco, for all your support and suggestions. I guess now I'm armed with enough choices to go for a much more focused auditions. <p>

Will give GS20 a second or perhaps some more auditions to see the matching. Same with the Focal range. The Electra 1027BE are indeed a little pricey and hence the apprehension also! Anyways, I will now try to audition the Chorus range. Any experience with 714V Marco? < p >

Zelkop, we all like bass, don't we? Why blame the age! LOL. Quite recently I was in Dubai during Nov07, will be again visiting Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the coming months. Very nice place.

The guy I bought my used Marantz PM17 from had Focal Chorus 716 paired with then his PM17 (now mine ) and SA11S1, the combination as he described it matched extremely well. He upgraded to a PM11S1 after he sold the amplifier to me and said that after upgrading the amp he probably was looking at replacing the speakers, but he was very very pleased with sound, especially considering their price.

As suggested, I think you'd best look at the Chorus 800 series, see (hear) if you like them.

One other thing to consider would be Dynaudio speakers, I've heard alot of people raving about the combination Dynaudio + Marantz but sadly I haven't heard much. What I heard, blew me away though. It were some smaller Dynaudio speakers paired with a Marantz PM17 MK2 and CD17 Mk2.

An aquaintance used Dynaudio speakers with his PM15 and SA15 and absolultey loves the combination. Sadly, I haven't been able to hear his set-up.